


Grass Skirts

by disillusionist9



Series: Choose Dare [25]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Post-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-01
Updated: 2016-09-01
Packaged: 2018-08-12 09:35:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7929697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/disillusionist9/pseuds/disillusionist9
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Drabble #25 of 100 | Paying his penance was something Theo never thought he'd finish</p>
            </blockquote>





	Grass Skirts

There would never be enough years between the war, and what he'd done to survive it, and where he was now. The sun could never warm away the cold left in his bones from casting Unforgivables and the stars were duller than he remembered in his boyhood. He didn't return to Hogwarts in favor of quietly rebuilding the countryside near his estate, destroyed by his late father and the other Death Eaters both magically and physically.

Theo fully embraced the natural cloak of night, counting the change of the seasons through the new shoots of leaves on branches or the constellations. It was soothing to stand beneath the changing sky and map the stars and planets. Seldomly were his wanderings across the Nott lands and surrounding villages quiet or solitary. Even in the deepest winter he could feel the gaze of fauna or hear carols sung on doorsteps from a few kilometers away.

Healing the earth on the estate would not be solved in one night, a fortnight, or even a month. Theo had no other calls on his time, by his own design, and from the pall that followed the children of notorious Death Eaters. He'd never taken the Mark himself. That didn't seem to matter to the Wizarding public.

Working further and further away from the heart of the manor grounds, and where his family's veritable castle was centered, Theo saw fewer stars and overheard fewer sounds of life from the village. On the outskirts of the grounds were thick rings of trees, some of them close to centuries old, strengthened by the ancient magic and skilled gardening house elves.

Singing the Dark Magic out of the trees, the grass, the flowers, and the rocks around him was easier each year, but he did not notice the silence behind his voice amplifying his steps in dry grass or snow or soft new earth in spring. At least, not until something else started filling it.

Small sounds, which most people take for granted, slowly filled the white noise in his ears once he'd reached the furthest borders of his ancestral property. The soft footfalls of another person or the brush of clothing against unkempt foliage tickled the edges of his hearing. They were sounds his subconscious couldn't immediately place, it had been so long since he'd heard them.

It took nearly a year for Theo to recognize he only heard these noises the week of the full moon.

Once realized, it only took another moment to know who the footsteps and soft sighs belonged to.

"Luna," he said into the dark one night. "I told you to leave me alone."

"You've been alone long enough," she replied from behind him. When he didn't turn to look at her or join her in the clearing of trees, she reached her hands out to him. "Are you still afraid of the moonlight?"

Theo shivered, letting her voice wash over him. His eyes were shut as tightly as he could. Knowing she would not leave until he had moved to her he went against his better judgement and turned to face his very own sliver of moonlight.

Bare feet, hair as wild as he remembered with flowers as blue as her eyes braided in sporadically, and a slip of a dress shimmering in the light with what appeared to be a skirt of woven grass...she was ethereal. Was it a decade now he'd last seen her, testifying to his benefit at the Wizengamot? Was it twenty? Theo couldn't say but it didn't matter. She shone just as brightly as the last time he'd held her.

"The stars dimmed for me, the sun can't warm me, why would I deserve moonlight?"

"Everyone deserves to be washed clean, Theo." Her head tilted, considering him from a new angle. Her arms were still outstretched towards him, swaying in the light wind. "You've been avoiding me."

It wasn't a question, and Theo didn't deny it with actions or words. Of course he was avoiding her; he was avoiding everyone.

"You've saved the earth here, it's time you rested. Come home." Luna took one step towards him away from the center of the clearing.

Theo hesitated at the edge under the branches of a willow tree, taking one step back to match her movement.

Luna was nothing if not persistent; she held none of his reservation when she closed the remaining steps between them. The edges of her grass skirt tickled her bare toes before she stood on them to kiss Theo gently, as if he may break. He very well might have if she'd turned away from him and listened to his words and not the meaning behind them.

Shafts of moonlight cut through the night so easily, and Luna let her light shine into the darkest corners of Theo's night.


End file.
